That evening, Padmé made her way down to the dining hall exhausted from having explored the castle without stopping nearly all day.

"Hello," said Anakin, who had been lurking in the shadows.

Padmé jumped.  She hadn't seen him there before.  "Hello." she said, trying to act as though she hadn't been frightened.

"You needn't be afraid of anything here you know.  I won't hurt you, and nothing else here could hurt you if it wanted to."

"Uh.  I'll keep that in mind." Padmé said.  Her stomach growled loudly.

"You are hungry." Anakin observed.

"What a brilliant deduction!" Padmé said, grinning despite her situation.

Anakin seemed to laugh but Padmé couldn't tell for the room was very dimly lit.  He walked off towards the dining room and she hesitantly followed.

~*~

"Look at them!" said Siri happily, "how much longer do you suppose it will be until the curse is broken?  They're surely friends now, right?"

"She still fears him though.  She tries to hide it, but she's afraid of him." Obi- Wan told her.

"I know." she replied, "but it does seem like she's a little less afraid than she was..."

Obi- Wan smiled at her a little.  He and Siri had been in love before this whole ordeal.  He had planed to propose to her- the day after they were transformed into objects- and now he doubted they would ever marry. 

Their story was a little funny.  He was Anakin's second cousin and had seen Anakin grow up as he was quite a bit older than him. Siri was Anakin's mother's best friend's daughter.  He and Siri had met in court one afternoon, he mistaking her for a servant and asking her to refill his drink. She had laughed good-naturedly and said that she was no servant.  Obi- Wan apologized and she then proceeded to tell him that she had just come back from grooming her horse as she hadn't trusted any of the stable boys with the task.  Due to that her hair and clothes were a mess, and she knew that any might have mistaken her for a servant. The two began to talk from there and somehow romance had ensued.

"Who knows what will come of this." he said.

~*~

Days in the palace went by and Padmé began to fall into a routine of sorts.  Many days she would read for hours on end.  Others she would walk through the gardens and orchards, and many times she went to the music hall and began to relearn to play the flute.  in the evenings she would go down to the dinner hall and converse with Anakin.  He seemed so...  Not beast- like at times.  This puzzled Padmé to no ends but she couldn't bring herself to ask him why he wasn't a barbaric thing that attacked villages.

Slowly, as it took Padmé a long time to be unafraid of his appearance, the two started to become friends.  Padmé began to look forward to dinner where she would meet him, and she started to find it easier and easier to talk to him.  She began to forget that his appearance was anything odd.

During this whole process Padmé had become friends with Yane, Eritae, and Rabe with ease.  The three of them were so easy to talk to and helped keep Padmé from becoming lonesome in her time spent there.  She found Yoda's way of talking quite funny and would talk to the candlestick for ages.  Obi- Wan and Siri seemed nice enough, but she almost never saw them except for occasionally at dinner time.

Before she knew it, six months had passed since she had come to the castle.  She was happy enough, but she missed her family dearly, many nights she would dream of them.  She had dreamed of Sola's marriage to Darred and that she was now expecting a child.  She almost never dreamed of her Father.  She hoped he was doing well.  It had been the season of Spring when she had first come to the castle and now Autumn was fading fast into Winter. 

~*~

One afternoon, as Padmé sat playing the flute, Anakin came in to the music hall.

"Hello." she said, putting the flute down quickly.

"I'm sorry I disturbed you," said Anakin, turning to go.

"That's okay." said Padmé, smiling at her friend, "What are you doing here anyways?"

"I once played the trumpet, baritone, and piano, but I haven't in many years." he told her, "I come here sometimes to muse on that, and go over music in my head that I'll never again play."

Padmé nodded, "My Great Aunt once taught me to play the flute.  I've been trying to relearn it.  I've forgotten quite a bit."

"Play something." said Anakin, smiling at her, "I haven't heard real music in a long time."

Padmé put the flute to her lips and played a sweet sounding song.  It flowed through the room, filling it with sound.

"That's very pretty." Anakin told her.

"Thank you." Padmé replied, "Try to play something on the piano.  I bet that's one instrument you can never forget to play."

"Eh, I doubt that." said Anakin, "I can try though."

He sat down at the piano.  He put his hands to the piano and sat there for a moment.  He tried to play, but hit several keys when he meant to hit one.  "I told you I had forgotten."

"At least you tried." Padmé told him.

"Well, I'm off to the orchards.  They're beautiful this time of year." Anakin said, "Want to come?"

"Okay." said Padmé, putting the flute into its case.

~*~

"Most of the leaves have changed, and lots have fallen." Anakin commented as they walked through the orchards.

Padmé nodded, "Back home we had a tree- not sure what kind it was- in our front yard.  When I was a little girl I used to put them in a big pile and jump in them.  I love Autumn."

"I've always liked Winter best." Anakin replied.

"Its so cold though!"

"But there's snow." Anakin said, "Its because of the snow that I like Winter."

Padmé grinned and shook her head.  "You're so crazy, Anakin."

"Why am I crazy?" he asked, grinning a toothy grin.

Padmé laughed at the look on his face, "I don't know. you just are." she said, and she ran off, turning to look behind her.

Anakin laughed and ran after her, "Why?" he called.

_*_

AN: I know that took me forever, but it seemed like no matter how much I wanted to write, one conflict after another seemed to present itself and I was unable to write.  Homework, becoming sick with the flu, band activities, etc.  No matter how hard I tried I couldn't find time to write :-(.  Hopefully the next update will take me a lot less time :-)

R&R please!

- Sarah